Time Off
by Cuthalion97
Summary: Matt and the paladins get a couple of days off, and they put their time to good use. Shiro ends up questioning the wisdom of allowing them the run of the castle. :)
1. Chapter 1

**Please note: This story takes place after 'Shiro Returns', but is technically a stand-alone. The only reason I mention it is because Matt is in this story, and I wanted Matt to be there while the REAL Shiro was also there. . . Which, sadly, hasn't actually happened yet. Can't wait to see when it does . . .! :)**

The five paladins landed their lions and then, still full of adrenaline from their most recent battle, rushed to the bridge. Matt jumped up when they entered, a huge smile crossing his face.

"That was the coolest thing ever!" he exclaimed, flinging his arms up. "Pidge, you never told me that forming Voltron required you to enter another dimension!"

She grinned back, removing her helmet. "How does it look from the outside?"

"Sweet. I took some scans while you did it. Want to see?"

Pidge actually barrelled past Lance as she charged to her brother's work station. "You recorded a visual on a three-dimensional object entering the fourth dimension? Why didn't _I_ ever think of that?"

"Because I'm a lot more briliant than you."

"NOT," she replied, elbowing him. The two science geeks bent their heads to Matt's holographic display.

Shiro watched them for a moment, then turned to look at the others. Allura, her face determined, was piloting the castle through a wormhole. Coran stood behind her, trying very hard to suppress a yawn – not surprising, really. The orange-haired Altean had been working at top speed lately, what with caring for the paladins (who, according to him, needed cryopods far too often), helping Allura, and keeping the Castle of Lions operational, all while keeping tabs on the Galra 'patrols' that had been harrassing them this past week.

Hunk edged over to Matt and Pidge and stared over their shoulders. "Oh, wow, cool. That's an actual rendition of interphasing dimensions?"

Shiro raised his eyebrows a little and glanced at his two remaining team members. Keith stood with his arms folded, looking utterly bored, and Lance –

– Somehow, Lance was looking even more bored. His usually expressive eyebrows were drawn together in a nearly straight line, and his eyes were almost shut. Shiro caught his gaze, and Lance mouthed, "Interphasing dimensions . . .?"

Shiro shrugged.

The end of the wormhole opened up before them, and the Castle of Lions emerged in empty space. Distant stars shone in every direction, and a gleaming spiral galaxy stretched halfway across their front viewport, but there were no planets in sight, nor any single-star systems.

"Where are we?" he asked.

Allura turned from her station, her hair much less sleek than usual. "I've brought us to an uninhabited sector. These constant attacks by the Galra have been making us far too inefficient. It's high time we regrouped."

Lance snapped to attention. "Wait, are you saying –"

"That we get time off! Yes!" Coran interrupted, positively beaming.

Allura sighed. "Coran, we have a great deal of work to complete around the ship. Half our weapons-defense systems are out, and I've been having trouble with navigational and tracking systems."

"Yeah," Matt piped in. "Hey, how long do you think we can stay here? I've been wanting to do a complete rehauling of your long-range scanners. They're really outclassed by current Galran technology."

Coran bristled, and Shiro stepped forward before he could speak. "Princess, I know you're eager to get back to the fight, but everyone could really use some time off. We haven't had a day go by without fighting some sort of battle for weeks."

She pressed her lips together and sighed, but nodded. "You're right, Shiro. I suppose the Galra won't come up with anything new in a few quintents."

Lance stared from Shiro to Allura and back. "Wait, you're agreeing? She's agreeing?"  
She rolled her eyes, just a little, and turned to Coran. "It would be best to power down all non-essential systems for the primary diagnostics."

"Indeed, Princess." The advisor seemed to be struggling to keep his usual upbeat personality at its normal level of 'energetic'. "But – ah, if its not too terribly urgent, perhaps it could wait a few vargas?"

"I – I don't see why not."

The yellow mouse flopped onto its back in an exaggerated display of relief, and the other three joined him. Allura gazed chillingly down to where they relaxed against her consol, but none of them moved.

"All right, team," said Shiro, heading off the bridge. "Get some rest."

Lance snapped into a salute. "Yes, sir!"

"I'm serious," Shiro said. He stopped short, as though something had suddenly occurred to him, and turned back, folding his arms. "Oh, and by the way."

Pidge gulped. "Uh-oh."

Matt pretended not to have heard him, but continued typing away rapidly until Shiro marched over to him and cleared his screen with a quick swipe. Matt turned around as though surprised to be interrupted. "Hi, Shiro."

Shiro gave him a level 'nice try' look and continued. "In case we don't get to stay here as long as planned, everyone is under orders to rest. Pidge, Hunk, Matt, no tinkering with computers or machinery. Coran'll need your help soon enough."

Pidge nodded. "Okay."

He raised an eyebrow. "Okay? That's it? No argument or anything?"

She shrugged eloquently. "We won't be able to anyway with all the systems powered down. Come on, Matt, let's go hang out in the lounge. There's something I've been wanting to plan out."

She grabbed his hand, and the taller Holt sibling allowed himself to be dragged out of the room by a rapidly chattering Pidge. Shiro turned to Keith, but the red paladin gave him a sideways smirk before he could speak. "Yeah, no training deck. Wouldn't be able to anyway."

"So!" said Lance, grinning widely and planting his hands on his waist. "What's on the schedule for fun?"

 **Wednesday update. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

Shiro cleaned up from the battle and changed into casual clothes. He felt oddly at loose ends, now that there was no immediate task to perform or plan for, and he found himself hoping that one of the others needed help with something.  
It was, according to Pidge's time converter, the equivalent of two in the afternoon, but he was worn out from the constant stress of the past few days, and decided to lay down for a while.

As so often happened when he was worn out, however, that turned out to be a bad idea. He woke a few minutes after falling asleep, a vague sense of fear in his chest. He groaned, turning onto his back and resting an arm across his face. Okay, obviously he wasn't going to be able to sleep without having nightmares right now.

But maybe if he was with the others . . . He gave a mental shrug. It was worth a shot, at least. Grabbing a couple of blankets, he headed to the lounge.

Pidge was lying on her stomach, drawing rapidly. Matt knelt beside her, hands braced against his knees, and nodded, pointing occasionally at the paper and murmuring suggestions. They glanced up and gave him nearly identical smiles as he entered.

Shiro waved back and headed to the nearest couch. He was a little surprised to find Keith already there. The red paladin was curled up at the far end, reading.

"Good book?" asked Shiro, stopping next to him.

Keith glanced up. "I don't know. It's in Altean. I figured I'd work at learning the letters."

"Good idea. Where are Lance and Hunk?"

"In the kitchen. Hunk said something about figuring out how to make cocoa."

Pidge popped up. "Cocoa? Yum!"

Matt held up a finger. "Do you think he could make marshmallows?"

"Hunk can make _anything._ But – maybe we'd better see if he thought about making them already?"

"Let's go." Matt sounded uncharacteristically serious. "It's not hot chocolate without marshmallows."

They both leapt to their feet, shouting, "SAVE THE COCOA!"

Keith and Shiro watched them charge out, scattering papers across the entire lounge as they did so.

When their footsteps had died away, Keith glanced up at Shiro. "What . . . are they talking about?"

Shiro picked up one of the papers, smiling at a memory from his time in the Garrison. "Matt was always a stickler about the proper way to make cocoa." He turned the paper around, trying to figure out what Pidge had been working on. "Is this a map?"

"No idea," said Keith, who wasn't really paying attention. "Hey, Shiro, do you remember what this symbol stands for?"

"It looks kind of like the one used for the sound 'ah', but not quite." He wrapped a blanket around his shoulders and flopped down on the long couch. "I haven't memorized all the letters yet."

"What's this one?"

Shiro opened his eyes and squinted at him. "I don't know. Ask Coran."

"Coran's busy," Keith replied, straight-faced.

Shiro dragged the blanket up to cover his face. "Yeah, me too." 

Lance lounged against the counter, watching Hunk. The yellow paladin stood in the center of the room, frowning thoughtfully at the two open containers he held, one in each hand.

The room had been silent for a full dobosh now as Hunk considered. Lance shoved his hands in his pockets. "What's up, pal?"

Hunk glanced at him, a preoccupied look still on his face. "Both of these taste like chocolate," he said.

Lance twisted his mouth to one side. "Good . . .? Cocoa's supposed to taste like chocolate, right?"

"Well, yeah, but half the cocoa-drinking experience has to do with the scent, you know? I can't figure out which one _smells_ more like cocoa powder."

"Hold that thought." Lance leaned over the first container and took a deep sniff. "Hmmm. Right."

Then he moved to the other container, taking an even deeper sniff. "I think –"

The blue paladin convulsed suddenly, nearly doubling over. "Holy –!" Then he let out a shrieking sneeze that made Hunk jump violently.

The kitchen door opened, admitting Pidge and Matt, both of whom were glancing around in alarm.

"What was that?" demanded Pidge.

Lance straightened abruptly, trying to regain some semblance of dignity, and said, "I was testing an ingredient."

Pidge sniffed. "What'd it do, bite you?"

"No! How could it possibly bite me?"

Matt was ignoring the exchange, instead poking at the two containers. "Hey, these smell like chocolate."

"Yeah," said Lance, popping up beside him. "But which one is _more_ like chocolate?"

Hunk set the containers on the counter. "Actually, I need to know which one is more like cocoa powder."

Matt grinned. "Consider it done."

The two Holts got to work immediately, considering the problem from every possible angle. Pidge got out a small scanner and compared the molecular structures while Matt measured density and weight and scribbled notes on his datapad.

Then came the actual experiments. Both of them tasted each ingredient, drinking plenty of water in between to remove the taste from their tongues; then, despite the fact that their eyes were watering, they repeated the process while pinching their noses shut.

Lance wasn't entirely sure, but this last step seemed a little like overkill to him. Not that he was one to get in the way of science, but –

He glanced at Hunk, who shrugged, apparently just as lost.

Matt and Pidge compared notes and came to an agreement. "Okay," said Pidge, adjusting her glasses and staring down at her datapad. "Our results show that _this_ ingredient –" She pointed to the smaller container – "is, overall, the most like cocoa powder from Earth."

Lance huffed. "That's the one _I_ decided on, too!" he said. "You didn't have to do all that sciency mumbo-jumbo."

The siblings looked at him, wearing identical pitying expressions. Hunk began to dig through various storage units, collecting the necessary ingredients.

"Okay, but seriously," said Matt, with the tone of one who was getting down to business. "Hunk, we have a question for you: can you make marshmallows?"

Hunk stopped short, a measuring spoon in one hand. An expression of uncertainty crossed his face. "Uhh."

Pidge bounced on her toes, waving one hand. "We can help you! The basic formula involves water, the proper concentration of glucose, and heat, right?"

Matt interrupted, reaching into a supply cupboard and pulling out random ingredients. "We'll also need gelatin. And some form of starch."

"Yeah . . ." Hunk scratched his head. "And something to keep it from sticking to the pan."

Lance yawned. "So, like, butter or something?"

They exchanged glances. Pidge grinned. Hunk gave an excited cheer, and then all four of them shouted, "Kaltenecker!"

 **And - they're off! Please take a moment to leave a review or guess at what happens next. . . :)**


	3. Chapter 3

Coran was idling away some time by flicking through his collection of recipes for Altean desserts. The paladins, who seemed to suffer from an underdeveloped sense of taste, had thus far failed to appreciate his culinary efforts. Still, all of them had what Lance had termed a 'sweet tooth' – even Shiro, who pretended not to.

(The first time Lance had said 'sweet tooth', Coran had immediately gotten out his scanner to find out which tooth contained the high concentration of sweetener, and why humans had such a strange feature in the first place.)  
Humming a jaunty tune, Coran snatched up his datapad and skidded through the halls until he reached the kitchen. Loud talking and clattering alerted him to the presence of the other paladins before he even opened the door. He entered, his eyes going wide at the absolute chaos that met him.

Hunk stood at a counter, pouring a white syrupy mixture into a second bowl of ingredients. As he poured, Matt stirred the contents of the second bowl with feverish haste. Just beside him, Lance was shaking a sealed container as hard as he could, panting for breath.

Matt slid out of the way, letting Hunk replace him. He consulted his datapad and shouted, "Almost there, Hunk – keep it up!"

Pidge, on the opposite side of the kitchen, was in the process of digging through an immense pile of pans, sending them in all directions.

Coran stepped over her. "Everything all right there, Number Five?"

"Oh! Coran, yeah, hi. I need a flat pan – low sides – approximate dimensions should be eight inches by eight." Seeing that he didn't know what inches were, she held up her hands. "About this long and this wide. Hurry!"

"Ah, yes. We have one right –"

"Pidge!" shouted Hunk, stirring frantically. "I've got a situation here. If we don't get this in the pan within thirty ticks, it'll be ruined!"

"Got it!" Coran yelled gleefully, holding up a metal tray.

Pidge snatched it from him and raced over to Hunk. Matt and Lance pried the container open, drained some liquid from it, and slapped a large gob of yellowish paste into the pan.

Hunk was stirring so fast his arm was a blur. "Five ticks!"

Lance whizzed into motion, using his hand to spread the paste across the entire surface of the pan. He dodged out of the way, letting Hunk tip a large mass of bubbling white into it, and they all sighed with relief.

"Um, right," said Coran, looking around at the destroyed kitchen. "What were we all hurrying about?"

"Marshmallows," said Matt, sinking back against the table.

"We've got this, Coran," Hunk assured him, trying to block Coran's view of a spilled bowl – obviously a failed previous attempt.

"Yeah," said Pidge, trying to sound enthusiastic. "We'll – uh – clean this up. It might take a few vargas. . ."

Lance licked some paste off his finger. "Yeah, but it's _so_ worth it." 

When Shiro woke up, the lights in the lounge were dimmed. Pidge and Matt were sitting on the ground, their backs against the couch Shiro was occupying, both staring at a paper in Pidge's hands.

Shiro sat up, disentangling himself from the blankets, and Pidge instantly whipped her papers out of sight. "Hey, Shiro. Sleep well?"

Obviously, she and her brother were up to something, but all Shiro said in reply was, "Yes, actually. What time is it?"

"I think it's about six-thirty," said Matt, getting to his feet and trying to sneak his datapad to Pidge.

Shiro gestured. "You know, Matt, for a saboteur you're pretty obvious at times. What are you guys working on?"

"Plans," said Matt with a bright smile.

Shiro paused for a moment, then lunged forward, making a grab for him. Matt darted to the door with an undignified squawk, his sister pelting behind him.

As they disappeared, Pidge shouted, "Hunk said to tell you he saved some dinner for you! It was really good!"  
Shiro translated this in his mind to mean: Hey, Shiro, I'm trying to distract you right now, and I hope you aren't aware of it.

Of course he'd noticed, but he wasn't really that interested in finding out what they were plotting; they generally knew what they were doing. Besides, it wasn't as though they could get in a lot of trouble while on the castle.  
He hoped. 

Lance opened the storage drawer with one foot and dropped the last cleaned plate into its slot. Planting his hands on his waist, he glanced around at the spotless kitchen, then gave a satisfied nod.

Across the room, Hunk was stirring and chopping at various ingredients, and Keith was leaning against the counter, watching him. Lance crept up behind him and said loudly, right in his ear, "Watcha doin', Mullet?"

"Gah!" Keith's elbow slammed into Lance's ribs as the red paladin whirled away, and Lance doubled over.

"Oof! Owwww. Keeeeith, do you have to be so _violent_ all the time?"

Hunk, who had ignored this exchange, held up a plate of soft-looking white cubes. "Hey, guys, I think they turned out!"  
Lance abruptly forgot his injured side and straightened, reaching over to exchange a fist-bump with Hunk. "Okay, awesome!"

Before he could grab a marshmallow, the kitchen door opened, and Shiro said, "Hey, guys. I didn't realize you were still down here."

Hunk opened a warming unit and pulled out a covered plate. "I saved you some. Want to try a little savor-and-spice?"

"Thanks, Hunk. What are you working on?"

"Just making a little something for later." Hunk went back to stirring.

Shiro took a bite. "Why, what's going on?"

"Uh." Shiro did not miss the quick glance that Hunk sent in Lance's direction.

Lance bolted for the kitchen door. "I just thought of something. Shiro, meet us in the lounge after, will you?"

Before he could draw breath to answer, Lance was gone. Shiro gazed suspiciously after him, then went back to eating his supper, after informing Hunk that it was very good indeed. Hunk beamed.

 **Lance is plotting and planning. That's never a good sign . . . :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay - here's update one of two that I am going to do today. I had quite a bit of writing time yesterday. :)  
**

"Who's gonna do it, though?" Pidge asked, dumping her armload of supplies on the ground and glancing between Matt and Lance.

"Hmm . . ." Matt rested his chin on one hand. "You could?"

"What? No way!" she retorted, folding her arms. A sneaky smile crossed her face, and she added, "Besides, I'm not tall enough."

Lance's eyes widened. "You're right! Matt?"

"Yeah, no thanks. Why don't you?"

Lance waggled one hand from side to side. "I could, but –"

Pidge interrupted, her face screwed up thoughtfully. "Hunk won't do it. . . Hey, do you think Keith –?"

"Nah," said Lance. "Maybe? I dunno. He's in the kitchen, anyway. You know, what we need is a distraction."

The three of them considered. Footsteps sounded in the hallway, and they could hear someone whistling in a bouncy, off-key manner. Coran's orange hair and mustache showed clearly through the frosted glass as he walked by.

Lance grinned a truly evil grin. "Nevermind, guys, I got this."

He rushed to the door and dragged Coran into the room, already giving him instructions in a low, fast voice. Matt and Pidge smiled toothily at each other, then rushed to complete their other preparations.

"You got all that?" Lance finished.

"Um, yes, but it seems just a bit odd –"

"Alteans and Earthlings have pretty different customs," Lance said coolly. "I mean, it's okay, you don't actually _have_ to do it, but . . ."

Coran looked a bit skeptical for a moment longer, but then he lifted his hands in a shrug and smiled cheerfully. "All right, very well!"

Shiro left the kitchen a few minutes after Keith did and made his way through the quiet hallways to the lounge. It was nice to be in a peaceful area, not having to worry about being attacked at any moment. Maybe he should try to fit in these kinds of breaks more often.

He opened the lounge door. He knew all the paladins could use the rest, and even Allura and Coran –

– Something soft and large slammed into his face, and he stopped short.

Coran stood to his left, swinging an immense pillow from both hands. Before Shiro could comprehend this strange situation, a burst of laughter distracted him.

He glanced across the room to see something even more unusual than Coran holding a pillow. Pidge and Matt were hanging on to each other, laughing so hard they couldn't breathe; Lance was rolling on the floor, chortling and clutching his stomach as though he were about to die, and Keith . . .

Shiro felt his eyebrows jump. Keith was practically lying across the arm of the couch, his face hidden in his sleeve as he choked and sputtered with mirth. After a moment, he glanced up at Shiro's quizzical expression and collapsed in an even bigger fit of giggles.

"Your – your face – Shiro –" he wheezed. "It was so –" He buried his face in the couch, shaking.

Matt and Pidge, still snickering, had turned to look at Keith, and Lance's face was quickly assuming an alarmed expression. "Keith? Uh, hey – did you take caffeine pills or something?"

Shiro took the pillow from Coran, sauntered over to the couch, and crowned Keith with it. "Who's idea was this?" he asked calmly. "Or did Coran just randomly decide to hit me in the face with a pillow?"

Lance retreated behind one couch. "Mine, sort of?"

Coran appeared beside him. "Number Three told me about one of your Earthling bonding exercises." He twirled his mustache expertly and glanced around at the grinning paladins. "I must say, it was a big success."

"Wait, wait, wait." Shiro raised his hands. "Bonding exercises?"

"Indeed! A pillow fight, I believe it's called?" He looked to Lance for confirmation, and the blue paladin nodded enthusiastically.

Pidge shoved her way between Matt and Lance. "Before you say anything, Shiro, I need to show you what we built."

Hunk came into the lounge just then, a tray of steaming mugs in his hands, and said, "You get those blanket forts done, Lance?"

"We did." Lance used the couch like a step to reach the upper level. "Here's the deal, everyone. The low area between the couches is neutral ground, so anyone can use it for cover."

He skidded over the floor and gestured grandly at a large blue blanket stretched across one corner of the room. "This is one fort."

Racing back across the room and leaping entirely over the couch area, he lifted one side of a green blanket positioned in the opposite corner. "And this is the other fort. Both have been stocked with ammo. Meaning pillows."

"Pidge," said Shiro, turning to glance between the forts. "Is this what you and Matt were designing?"

"Yeah," she grinned, pushing her glasses up her nose. "We welded some of that lightweight alloy wire to the walls and doubled the blanket over it. Even _Lance_ won't be able to pull it down."

"Hey!" said Lance.

"Anyone want cocoa?" asked Hunk, hefting the tray. "Or I could save it for after, that's fine too."

Matt dove towards him. "No! You have to drink it before the marshmallows dissolve." He accepted a mug and sniffed appreciatively. "Oh, wow." Sneaking a glance at Coran, he added, "This has fresh milk in it. From Kaltenecker."

Coran sidled out of the room, a blank expression on his face, and Shiro looked thoughtfully at Matt. "Did you just say that to make sure he wouldn't drink any?"

Matt now wore an expression that was the epitome of innocence. "Who, me? Is it my fault that there's now an extra cup?"

"Dibs!" shouted Lance.

Matt's thin face took on a dangerous look. "I'll arm-wrestle you for it."

Shiro sighed loudly and held up his prosthetic arm. "No, I'll arm-wrestle you _both_ for it."

"But – Shiro, that's _cheating!_ " protested Lance. "We all know you'll win."

"Exactly," he said, settling himself crosslegged on the floor. "So you may as well give up now."

Hunk passed a mug to Keith and one to Pidge. Matt and Lance stared with narrowed eyes at Shiro, then retreated to a corner, apparently putting aside their differences in favor of plotting revenge.


	5. Chapter 5

Shiro drank his cocoa, then put the mugs meant for Allura and Coran into a small heater in the wall. The two Alteans, despite their strange horror at the way milk was obtained, could never manage to say 'no' to Earthling treats.

"Matt and I are gonna be the captains," declared Lance suddenly, with a blissful disregard for protocol and the fact that Shiro _was_ still technically Matt's captain. "Time to pick teams."

Keith snorted. "No way am I being on your team."

Lance put his nose in the air. "Oh, yeah? What makes you so sure I'd pick you in the first place?"

Pidge drained the last of her cocoa and wiped her mouth on her sleeve. "I'm on Shiro's team," she said.

"Wait, why do you get to be on Shiro's team?" said Hunk. "He's the best fighter we've got."

"Right," she said comfortably. "He's the tallest. I'm the shortest. Therefore, I get to work with him to beat _you_ guys to a pulp."

Lance thought for a moment, then leaned casually over and grabbed Hunk's vest, dragging him closer to the blue tent. "Well, that means I get Hunk. We're used to working together."

Hunk grabbed a pillow and thumped it, smiling smugly. "Yeah. Besides, I'm a good shield."

"Yep, right, totally." Lance slung an arm around Hunk's shoulders, while the yellow paladin looked perfectly happy about the sideways compliment.

Matt elbowed Keith. "So, you and me take out everyone else?"

Shiro thought that Keith looked a little too determined when he agreed, but then again, he took everything he attempted pretty seriously. Hopefully he wouldn't get too carried away.

"We'll need another fort," said Lance. "Heck, let's put up two more! Maybe Allura and Coran will want to join in."

The yellow, blue and red paladins left the room, apparently to get more supplies, and Shiro finished his drink while Matt cleared up the used mugs. Pidge sat on the ground, her chin in one hand, eyes shifting back and forth a bit as she thought up various schemes.

The door opened again, but no one came in.

Shiro glanced up to see what appeared to be a large pile of blankets with white hair standing in the opening. He went over and took some of the blankets, and Allura emerged from behind them, a bit disheveled, but smiling excitedly.

"Has the war of pillows begun yet?"

He set his load on a couch, trying not to laugh. "Not quite. Will you and Coran be joining in?"

"Of course. The ship's main power crystal is completely rebooting the system, so it'll be a while – and your Earth customs are _so_ interesting!"

Shiro nodded and watched as Hunk and Lance dashed in, trailing a blanket and a coil of wire between them. Keith followed a little more slowly; his arms were full of pillows, which he was trying not to drop. Coran came behind him, walking backwards and dragging a blanket full of pillows and – was that the Altean equivalent of a bean bag? Whatever it was, it was long.

Allura rushed to help them, her skirts and hair in a constant whirl of motion as they put up the third and fourth wires. Matt got the remaining two cups of cocoa and made his way carefully over to her, blushing furiously as he did so.

"Umm – Princess Allura?" His voice cracked, sliding up higher than usual, and Shiro sent him a wicked grin. Matt's glare promised revenge, but then he smoothed his expression out and tried again. "Would you like some hot chocolate, Princess?"

Shiro and Pidge shared an eyeroll. 'Hot chocolate', indeed. Matt had never before referred to it as anything but cocoa.

The princess turned from where she was hanging a pink blanket. "Oh, why thank you, Matt."

She accepted it a little cautiously from the beaming technician, then took a tiny sip. Her eyes widened, and she drained the cup within seconds. "That's absolutely delicious! Coran, you _must_ try this!"

The advisor stared dubiously at the last cup. "Ah – well . . ."

Shiro leaned over and poked Matt in the ribs, forcing his grip on the mug to loosen. Before the younger boy could recover, he wrested the cocoa out of his hands and gave it to Coran.

Matt's large eyes narrowed meaningfully. "Shiro."

"Matt."

They were interrupted by a gasp from Coran. His mustache had bristled to twice its normal size. "That's – Hunk, this is even better than a roasted silnkip!"

He drank it down in approximately two gulps, wiped his mouth with a blissful sigh, and tossed his mug over his shoulder. Shiro winced as it hit the ground, even though it didn't break.

"All right, paladins!" hollered Coran, jumping into the air and clicking his heels together. "Let's get started!"

Everyone else drew closer together, watching warily as he sprinted around the room, flinging a purple blanket over the remaining wire, grabbing a handful of pillows, and chucking them to Allura, who caught them, surprised.

"The princess and I are on one team!" They rushed into the purple tent, snatching pillows from the ground as they went. The blanket moved a little as they charged in, and then everything was silent.  
Shiro waited.

Matt and Keith grabbed their own ammunition and sprinted to the blue tent, and Hunk and Lance charged into the green one, nearly tearing it down. Pidge eyed the wire dubiously. "Okay, maybe it's not strong enough."

A fringe of orange hair rose above the top of the purple blanket as Coran tried to peek over. "So – um – what's next?"

Pidge pulled at Shiro's sleeve, hauling him towards the green tent. "Okay, guys!" she shouted. "The rules are . . ."

Matt's head appeared around the side of the blue blanket. "Free-for-all?"

She grinned. "Yeah."

"Paladins!" called Allura. "May I propose a temporary alliance? Two teams fighting together against the other two?"

Pidge hummed. "Okay . . . who'd you have in mind?"

"Lance and Hunk on our team, as we're on the same side of the room."

"Fair enough," agreed Pidge. "But only until the first team surrenders."

There was a pause, and then Lance yelled, in a shrill voice, "Okay, START!"

 **Okay - should I leave this story until Wednesday, or should I update sooner? :)**


	6. Chapter 6

There was a pause, and then Lance yelled, in a shrill voice, "Okay, START!"

Pidge adjusted her glasses, snatched up a pillow, and charged out, keeping low. Shiro followed, holding two pillows, and faced off with Coran, who was swinging the – yes, it was a bean bag.

"You won't take me down, Shiro!" he cried, winding up for a swing. He let out a battle cry, and Shiro ducked beneath his arm and smacked him full in the face with his own pillow.

Coran staggered back, mouth full of fabric, and Allura plowed into Shiro, two pillows slamming into him from opposite sides. He fell off-balance into the area between the couches, landing on a pile of blankets, and immediately held one up to fend the princess off.

Keith darted up behind Coran and disarmed him.

On the other side of the room, Matt had just swung a pillow into Hunk's stomach, which of course didn't budge him in the slightest. Lance shouted with glee and, holding a folded blanket in front of him, barreled into Matt. As they struggled to get back to their feet, Keith flattened the blue paladin with the bean bag.

Matt rolled away, landing on his knees just in time for Pidge to swing with all her strength. He was at the perfect height for her to bash him in the face, and he went down in a tangle of arms and legs, right on the edge of the lounge. Coran, who had joined Allura in trying to subdue Shiro, reached up and grabbed his ankle.

"PIDGE!" shouted Matt. "We're on the same team!"

She grinned. "Oops."

"What do you mean, 'oops'? Make Coran let go!" Matt hollered and twisted wildly. Hunk settled the question by picking him up, carting him over to the blue tent, and dumping him in. Dusting his hands off, Hunk loaded his arms with five pillows, then clasped them to his stomach and chased Pidge across the room.

Keith and Lance were still wrestling over the bean bag. Shiro hefted a pile of blankets on top of Allura's head and vaulted out of the lounge area.

Coran streaked across the room, shouting, " _Coran attaaaack!_ "

Shiro pivoted on his heel, caught his arm, and wheeled him directly into Hunk's path just as the yellow paladin neared a wall. Hunk backpedaled desperately, but too late – he and Coran smashed into the wall.

Pidge hopped up and down and cheered.

Lance and Keith stood, teetering wildly, on the seat of one of the couches as they yanked the bean bag around. Allura struggled upright, shedding blankets in all directions, glanced up and grabbed Keith's ankle.

With a yell, the red paladin lost his balance. Lance and Allura grabbed the long bean bag between them and charged Shiro. Unfortunately, he and Pidge were preoccupied with laughing at Coran and Hunk, and the bean bag caught Shiro directly in the stomach.

Pidge leapt onto Lance's back, clinging with her knees, and he shouted. "No, that tickles! AAAAAHHH!"

The most satisfied smirk Shiro had ever seen spread across Pidge's face, and she called, "Matt! Help me with this guy!"

Lance flailed. "No Pidge no Pidge no Pidge NOOOOOO! Hunk, Allura, _help!_ "

Matt pinned Lance's arms to the ground, and Shiro freed himself from the bean bag in time to grab Lance's ankles.

Pidge sneered and poked mercilessly at his ribs. Lance shrieked. "HEEEEELLLLLP!"

"I'm coming, Lance!" cried Allura breathlessly, stumbling forward.

Shiro looked up. "Matt! Keep 'em occupied! Pidge, Keith, cover me!"

"Got it, Shiro!"

Keith and Allura engaged in an actual sparring match, blocking and swinging and ducking. Pidge and Matt took on Hunk and Coran. Shiro grabbed Lance, who was still weak with laughter, under the arms and dragged him into the pink tent.

Dumping him in the blankets, he said, "Okay, you're in prison. Stay here."

"What?!"

Shiro ignored him and rushed back out. "Team! Take Coran down and get him to our fort!"

"Roger that."

By now, Allura had surrendered to Keith, who was guarding against any escape attempts. Coran tried to rescue her, but Pidge and Matt clung to his arms, dragging him around. Shiro moved threateningly towards Hunk, who backed across the room and right off the edge of the lounge.

"Um, okay!" cried Coran, now buried beneath eight or nine pillows. "You win!"

Shiro tossed his pillow at Hunk for good measure.

Pidge high-fived Matt. Both of them turned to Keith, each holding out a hand to repeat the gesture with him.  
He looked uncertainly from one to the other, his right eyebrow lifting questioningly. "Umm. . ."

Matt's mouth hung open. "Really?" He glanced across the room to where Lance was.

Lance shrugged. "Uh, Keith – high five? Fist bump?"

Keith blinked. "What does that even mean? I mean, I know what it is, but why do people do it?"

Shiro tuned out the consequent attempts at explanation as Coran spoke to him. "Allura and I are going back up to check on things. The rest of you, have fun!"

Allura cleared her throat. "Hunk," she said tentatively. "Would you be able to make more of that delicious –" She turned to Matt questioningly.

"Hot chocolate," he supplied.

"Ah, yes. Thank you. Would you make more hot chocolate?"

"Sure," said Hunk, straightening his vest. "Actually, I'll could make it right now, if that works. "

"Thanks, pal!" exclaimed Lance. "That sounds great – we can have it while playing space checkers or something."  
"Good idea!" piped in Pidge. "I'll go get our video game, too!"

Pidge and Hunk rushed off, and the remaining four were left staring at each other. Keith was the first to speak. "We didn't actually use the forts much."

Lance smirked. "Yeah, but now . . . four of them, four of us. What'dya say?"

Shiro unfolded his arms. "Fine by me. Bean bag's off-limits, though."

This time, Lance claimed the blue, Shiro the purple, Matt the green, and Keith was left with pink.

Lance stuck his head out of his tent. "Oh, look, Keith gets _pink!_ "

Keith looked up at his fort and shrugged. "It's the closest color to red."

Then, while Lance was busy sighing dramatically, Keith flung a cushion, hitting him in the face and knocking him back into his own fort.

The next five minutes or so were rather slow. Pillows flew over the top of each fort, but because of the distance no one landed an actual hit. Lance attempted to use a blanket for a sling, but gave up after realizing how unwieldy it was.

Pidge came back in, walked casually to the lounge with her laptop and the game, and sat down, completely ignoring the pillows that sailed by on all sides.

Matt popped his head out. "Whatcha doing, Pidge?"

"Fixing a glitch in the game's programming."

Matt narrowed his eyes. "You mean you're trying to find a cheat code."

She waved a hand. "Same thing." Twisting around to sit on her knees and look at him, she explained, "There's something in the glove that gives you infinite lives if you hold it right, so I'm tracing it down and wiring it to the consol instead."

Lance tossed his pillows to the side, indicating he was currently not involved in the fight, and crossed over to watch her. "Can you do it?"

"I should be able to."

"Good, 'cause there's this level I can't get by and . . ."

A well-aimed pillow from Shiro's tent hit Matt in the face. He recovered quickly, then rushed over to Keith's tent and ducked inside.

The commlink Shiro wore on his belt beeped, and he pulled it out. "Allura?"

"We've reset the crystal and the main systems. In case of attack, we'll be able to wormhole away."  
"Is there anything you need us to do?"

"Not at the moment. I have a number of radio calls to make, and Coran's calibrating the long-range sensors."  
"Okay. Let me know if you need help."

He clicked off the comm and hooked it back on his belt before realizing that it was strangely quiet in the lounge. Taking a cautious step to one side, he shifted the edge of the purple blanket until he could see out. Lance was still sitting behind Pidge, but he was concentrating very hard on _not_ looking in Shiro's direction.

Pidge was smirking.

Shiro waited. A faint scraping noise sounded just in front of him, and he leapt out, snatching at the would-be intruder.  
Keith dove to the side, avoiding him easily. Wiry arms caught Shiro around the waist, knocking him to the floor, Matt's voice laughing evilly in his ear.

At the same moment, Lance lurched to his feet and joined the fray. Shiro went limp on purpose, waited until Matt's grip loosened the slightest bit, then tossed him off.

Matt careened into Lance. Shiro got to his hands and knees, and Keith landed on his back.

"What – Keith! Three against one?" Shiro gasped, struggling to free himself.

"Yup."

Shiro twisted, hooking an arm under Keith's, and hauled him aside. "How exactly is that fair?"

From the ground, Keith gave him his best 'you're-being-dumb' expression and replied, ". . . It's not."

Matt latched his arms around Shiro's ankles.

"Surrender, fearless leader!" cried Lance dramatically. "Or – or . . ."

Shiro grunted, tripping a little. "Or what?"

"Hey, I'm still thinking!" said Lance defensively.

Keith and Matt proceeded to tackle Shiro from either side while Lance mused aloud. "Well, I could eat all those little ginger cookie things."

Keith interrupted. "He doesn't like them much."

"Oh. Hang on . . ."

"Stalemate," announced Pidge. "I got it working, Lance! Infinite lives!"

Shiro fell flat. Matt rested an elbow on his shoulder, struggling to put him in an armlock, and Keith and Lance rushed to help him.

Pidge was still chortling to herself. "This is so cool! Want to try it, Matt?"

Matt looked torn. "But – I've never beaten Shiro before."

"Ha," said Shiro, his face somewhat mashed in a pillow. "That's for sure. And you've spent half your life trying."

"Hey!" Matt said indignantly. "That was back at the Garrison. I was a lot smaller back then."

Shiro twisted his head until he could glance up at him. "A 'lot' smaller?"

"Yeah! I'm at least two inches taller now . . ."

Conversation died down for a moment as Shiro nearly broke free, then Matt continued, "Maybe even two and a half."

Shiro relaxed, gathering his strength for a final effort. "Yeah, but you still have the physique of a string bean."

Matt put a hand on his head and shoved him back into the pillow. "I'll have you know, _Captain,_ that I am four pounds heavier than I was when we launched the Kerberos mission."

"Four pounds, wow," said Shiro, and bucked him off. Then he caught Keith by the wrist and elbow and jerked so that Keith overbalanced, fell across Shiro and landed on Matt. Then, moving methodically, he sent Lance through the air and reeling into the other two.

Pidge glanced up, snorted, and looked back down, completely unimpressed.

Shiro squirmed out easily and stood up, folding his arms as he gazed down at them. "Still want me to surrender?"

Keith growled half-heartedly, and Lance tried to look offended, but Matt just lay where he had fallen, one arm cast dramatically over his face. "Pidge, help."

"Why?"

He rolled onto his stomach and looked at her. "Uh, because Shiro just beat me again?"

Pidge cast him one uncaring glance and shrugged. "So? Eat more."

Matt gasped. "Left for dead by my sister, my only little sister. Tackled by my superior officer, who should be helping me –"

"Oh, _now_ you remember my rank," said Shiro, reaching down to help Keith and Lance up.

Matt ignored him. "– Abandoned by my allies . . ."

"And besides," interrupted Shiro, kicking a blanket over Matt's face. "You were the one who attacked your superior officer first."

Matt clutched his chest, wheezing for breath as he got up. "My well-founded complaints tossed aside like – Oh, wow, cocoa."

Hunk had just come into the room, and Matt's voice switched back to normal so quickly that even Lance looked at him in astonished respect. "Dude, I think you're a better actor than I am."

As Matt took a bow, earning an eyeroll from Pidge, Hunk passed around the tray. "I already brought Allura and Coran theirs," he said, flopping down on the couch. "They said they'll be a while."

Pidge rushed over to show him what she had done with the game, and Lance brought out a few board games. Waving his cup around dangerously, he called, "Who wants to play checkers?"

Shiro raised a hand. Hunk, Pidge, and Matt were all clustered around the game consol – as Shiro looked over, Pidge slapped Matt's hand away from one of the wires – and Keith just stood where he was.

Matt slapped Hunk on the back. "This is so _awesome!_ We can finally beat that level! Lance, can we use your save file?"

"No, wait for me!" Lance tossed the checkers box to Shiro and rushed to join the others. "There's a special power I just got . . ."

Shiro turned to Keith, holding out the game questioningly. "I've played against Coran before," he said. "It's just like checkers back home."

Keith sat on the floor across from him and began setting it up. "You wanna be red or black?"

They both looked down at the pieces, back up at each other, and grinned.

"Okay, so that was a pretty unnecessary question . . ." Keith admitted.

 **Longer chapter tonight, because I'm so nice. . . ! :) Actually, I finished the story, so I'll be posting the rest of it this weekend, one way or the other. Thanks for reading, and please drop a review! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

Halfway through Keith and Shiro's game, a loud _pop!_ sounded from across the room, shortly followed by the faint scent of hot metal. Shiro looked up, mildly concerned, and saw Hunk staring down at the controller.

"I think it just shorted out," he said.

Lance and Matt were staring in frozen horror at the screen, which had turned black. Pidge flopped backwards on the couch with a despairing wail. "We were _that close_ to killing him! What happened? I thought for sure my wiring was foolproof!"

She and Hunk set to work dismantling the controller immediately, while Matt and Lance slumped over to join the other two.

Keith was staring intensely at the checkerboard, apparently trying to figure out which move would take out more of Shiro's pieces. Lance flicked idly at the cocoa tray, which sat next to Shiro, and said, "This your drink, Shiro?"

"Hmm? Oh, no; I guess it's an extra."

Lance raised his eyebrows happily and reached for it, but Matt's fingers latched onto it at the same time.

"Hey!" said Lance. "I had it first!"

Shiro gave him a look, but before he could say anything, Keith jumped three of his pieces and smirked up at him. Shiro narrowed his eyes, removed the jumped pieces, and stared hard at the board, rethinking his strategy.

Some sort of scuffle was going on to his left. He sighed, jumped over one of Keith's pieces, and looked up to reprimand whoever was fighting.

Lance and Matt knelt just beside Shiro, facing each other with grim intent in their eyes. Each of them was using both hands to grip the cocoa cup, despite its lack of handles, and their arms were shaking as they strained to pull it out of the other's grasp. Keith sat there, watching them with an almost impressed look on his face.

"Guys, what are you doing?" asked Shiro, honestly surprised.

He may as well have been speaking to the wall.

Lance hissed at his opponent. "The marshmallows are all melted. You won't even like it!"

Matt, his voice rather strained, replied, "Any cocoa is better than none. Give!"

Shiro opened his mouth, but just then Lance gave a satisfied sneer and released the cup. Cocoa sprayed everywhere, a good deal of it catching Matt directly in the face, and Lance was just enjoying a good laugh when he caught sight of Shiro.

The leader of Voltron was sitting perfectly motionless, hair plastered to his forehead, wearing a bemused expression as rivulets of cocoa dripped down his face.

Lance clapped a hand over his mouth. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorr –"

He obviously _wasn't_ sorry, thought Shiro wryly as the blue paladin burst into laughter.

Keith stared deliberately over Shiro's head at the opposite wall, his mouth twitching. Shiro stared at him for a moment, then leaned over and flicked all the red pieces off the checkerboard.

That done, he caught Lance by the scruff of the neck and pinned him in a headlock. Lance yelped and struggled, but Shiro grabbed a pillow and faceplanted Lance in it.

Matt was still in a state of shock. "You – you wasted it!"

Lance said, "I's'our'ault."

Shiro loosened his grip. "What?"

Lance lifted his head and repeated, "It's your fault."

Matt let out a wordless yell and dove for the nearest pillow. Pidge and Hunk watched interestedly from the couch, game controller forgotten.

Keith got to his feet and kicked the checkerboard aside as he grabbed a pillow of his own. Matt stood, a look of terrible vengeance on his face, and held up his weapon. His threatening appearance was a little ruined by the streaks of dried cocoa still trailing down his face and shirt.

Shiro let Lance up, deciding that he deserved a fighting chance, and the blue paladin streaked for the lounge, Matt in hot pursuit.

"Pidge, grab him!" Matt yelled.

Lance rushed behind Hunk, who stood up and braced himself just as Matt reached them. The thinner boy slammed into Hunk and bounced off.

Pidge stood on the couch, one fist in the air, and yelled, "Garrison Trio unite!"

Matt paused. ". . . That sounds suspiciously like a cheesy one-liner from some kids' show."

"Well, it's not," said Lance. "It's a cheer that should make _you_ start running."

Matt backed up a little. "What – Pidge, you, and Hunk against me?"

"Uh, no, no way," said Hunk. "It just means that us three are gonna be against your team. Keith? Shiro?"

"Actually," said Shiro, snagging the bean bag. "It's the Garrison Trio against the Original Garrison Trio."

Lance shook his head. "Wait, what? Keith entered the same year we did!"

"Yeah . . ." said Keith, tilting his head. "I did."

"Okay," said Shiro, obviously not really caring. "Garrison Trio against the Almost-Original Garrison Trio."

Lance blinked at him.

Pidge turned to Matt. "When you and Shiro were chosen for the Kerberos mission, you guys and Dad had to get used to living together, right?"

"Yeah," said Matt, backing up until he stood between the other two. "The Garrison doesn't send crews on long missions unless they know how to live peaceably with each other."

Shiro looked sidelong at him. "With Matt, 'peaceably' was a relative term, but yes, that was the idea. Keith hung out with us weekends."

Keith swung his pillow experimentally. "Yeah. This one time, Commander Holt and Shiro had a meeting, and Matt and I tried out the hoverbike."

"You never told me about that!" said Pidge, turning to her brother.

Matt, who was somewat preoccupied with trying to unstick his cocoa-soaked shirt from his stomach, replied, "I didn't want Dad to find out. Shiro was mad at us as it was."

"I wasn't _mad_ at you. . . It was just dangerous," said Shiro, swatting him with the bean bag.

Keith snorted. "Says the guy who routinely drove off a cliff to get to town."

"Yes, but I knew how."

"Wait," said Lance. "You mean Shiro did the same crazy stunt you pulled when we left?"

Shiro glanced levelly at Keith. "You drove off the cliff?"

"Didn't have much choice. The 'bike was too slow with all of us on it, and the Garrison was catching up."

Shiro bent his head, pinching the bridge of his nose as though he had a headache. "You drove off the cliff with all five of us on a _two-person hoverbike_."

Keith shrugged.

Hunk raised a hand. "Yeah, I thought we were all gonna die. That was pretty scary. Actually, it was a lot scary."

"And all _Keith_ said was 'Shut up and trust me'," Pidge added, rolling her eyes.

"Hey!" said Keith.

Shiro swung the beanbag into his stomach. "Maybe it's just as well I was unconscious. I have enough white hair as it is."

Matt gazed critically at him. "It's not actually white right now. . . It's sort of a light brown."

Shiro cast his gaze upward in an attempt to see his hair. "Well, that's beside the point."

"Either way," said Lance. "Me and Pidge and Hunk can beat you guys without even trying."

"Yeah, right." Keith dropped into a fighting stance.

"Shiro," said Hunk. "You said the bean bag was off limits."

"That was for last time."

"Not fair!" squeaked Pidge, but Shiro only smiled.

"ATTAAAACK!" hollered Lance.

He and Pidge charged. Matt jumped back with a yelp and clobbered Lance, knocking him flat. "That was for the cocoa!"

Lance rolled onto his back and tripped him. Pidge got in several good blows before Keith judo-flipped her onto a pile of blankets. Lance tackled Keith into the lounge. Matt recovered and tossed Pidge in after them. Shiro and Hunk fought for control of the beanbag. 

**Okay, be honest - how many of you just tried to look up at your hair? ':)**

 **One more update, and this story is complete! Hmm, what kind of story should I write next . . .?**


	8. Chapter 8

Up on the bridge, Allura and Coran were testing out the security system.

"The cameras on level three are operational," Allura reported over her shoulder.

Coran, who had rushed off to attend something at the main consol, waved a hand in acknowledgement. "Just give me a minute, Princess!"

Allura waited for a moment, then grew bored and looked at the mice. "I wonder what the paladins are up to," she said idly.

The blue mouse scampered over the controls and pointed at her screen, which showed the camera schematics.

"You want me to use the camera in the lounge?"

He squeaked.

She selected the proper camera, and the screen display changed. Her eyes widened. "Coran!"

Her advisor peered over her shoulder and gasped. "By the beard of King Groggery the Infirm!"

The lounge was a blur of motion, its occupants engaged in the fiercest pillow battle imaginable.

Blankets, cushions, pillows and checker pieces flew through the air, joined by the occasional paladin.

All the forts except for the purple one had been torn down, but even as they watched, Hunk grabbed Keith and sent him spinning across the floor and into the last one. It collapsed on top of him just as Shiro brought Hunk down in a full-body tackle. On the other side of the room, Lance held Matt down, allowing Pidge to pound him mercilessly with a bean bag, which was longer than she was tall.

Keith floundered out of the wrecked tent and grabbed one of Hunk's arms while Shiro took the other. Hunk struggled valiantly, but they dragged him to the center of the room and pitched him into the area between the couches, which was filled with blankets and pillows.

Lance turned, distracted by Hunk's yell, and Matt caught the bean bag as it descended and jerked Pidge off-balance. She toppled forward onto him. Shiro picked her up easily and ran back across the room, then tossed her into Hunk, who was just getting up. They went down in a pile of legs and arms.

Keith and Matt, however, were nowhere near as successful with Lance. He squirmed and wriggled and twisted, breaking free as often as they got hold of him.

Allura glanced up at Coran. "Should we intervene?"

"I think that might be wise," he agreed, twisting his mustache.

Shiro grabbed Lance's arms, pulling him upright, and Matt and Keith immediately started thwacking him with their pillows.

"Hunk!" yelled Lance. "Any day now!"

There was a frightening roar from the direction of the lounge.

Keith, his eyes widening, stopped attacking Lance. "Guys –"

It was too late. Hunk, a pile of pillows clutched in front of him and an armed Pidge on his back, charged into them.

Matt crashed into Keith, propelling them backwards as Shiro struggled to keep his balance. However, Pidge was prepared – timing her swing carefully, she hit him in the shoulders just as he was leaning back, and Shiro slammed into Matt and Keith, knocking all three of them to the ground.

Lance skittered away happily, grabbed the bean bag, and brought it down across them. Hunk added his pillows to the pile, then flopped down on top of the whole thing.

Pidge shouted, "PALADIN PILE!"

She and Lance jumped on Hunk's back. Allura and Coran rushed in and stopped short, uncertainty written all over their faces.

Lance clambered over Hunk to reach the pillow that covered Shiro's stomach and sat down hard. "Garrison Trio wins."

Silence filled the room.

No one moved.

"Uh, guys?" said Matt's muffled voice. "You can get off now."

"Nope!" said Pidge. She sat up, swinging her legs over the edge of the pillow pile. "Not until you surrender."

The pillows wriggled a bit, accompanied by Keith's growl, but Hunk just stood up a little and dropped his entire weight on them again.

"Ow," said Shiro. "Okay. Fine."

Pidge squinted down at him. "You're not tricking us?"

There was a moment's hesitation.

Lance hummed, bouncing up and down in place, and Shiro grunted. "Okay, we surrender."

Pidge stood up, walked across the entire pile, and then got off. "All right, guys, let 'em up."  
Hunk and Lance climbed down, a little ruefully, and the other three got unsteadily to their feet, Matt spitting out a mouthful of blanket first.

Lance grinned, elbowing Hunk. "Great idea, pal."

Shiro stretched, his spine cracking. "Good tactics."

"Yeah!" cheered Pidge. "Garrison Trio wins again!"

"Winning team cleans up," said Matt, smirking at her.

"It does not," said Lance.

Keith shook a checker piece out of his shirt. "Actually, yeah, it does."

"Since when?"

Shiro folded his arms, trying to bite back his smile. "Pillow fight etiquette. I'm pretty sure there's a book on it in the castle library."

"You're serious?"

Shiro refused to answer.

"Coran," said Pidge. "Is there really a book?"

"I'm afraid I wouldn't know . . ." he replied. "Well, it looks like everything's wrapped up here, so back to work for Coranic the Mechanic!"

Lance and Hunk watched him leave, then sighed and started collecting all the blankets and pillows. Pidge looked suspiciously at Voltron's leader, but apparently decided it wasn't worth the argument and joined the other two.

Allura moved farther into the room, accompanied by the mice. "Shiro? What exactly happened to your hair?"

Lance and Matt snorted with suppressed laughter.

Shiro just blinked at them. "It's - a long story."

 **Well, so much for this story! Hope y'all enjoyed it, and I'd love to hear from you . . . :) What was your favorite thing about it?**

 **Personally, I think I liked the part where Shiro demonstrated how mature he was by flicking Keith's game pieces off the board. ;) One of the things that I have the most fun with in writing fan fiction is when the characters do things on their own.**

 **I just sit there and describe what they're doing in my head. Tee-hee!**


	9. Bonus Chapter

**I decided to write a sort of bonus chapter, as a thank-you to all of you readers. :) I can't believe I cleared a thousand views on this story! (I mean, I kind of have to believe it; the evidence is right in front of my eyes and all . . .)**

 **I hope you like it!**

It took approximately half a varga for the disaster called the lounge to be cleaned up. It might have taken a shorter time if no one had gotten distracted, but Pidge, Matt, and Hunk spent most of the time trying to fix the video game, and Lance kept giving them unhelpful advice. Keith and Allura tried to find the checker pieces, but finally gave up.

Allura turned to the mice. "Would you try to find them, friends?"

They squeaked and ran off, soon returning with the remaining pieces. Keith counted them, just to be sure, and handed the box to Coran, who took it rather abruptly.

"We're lucky you didn't lose the pieces for real," he said huffily. "It's not like we can just stop anywhere to buy replacements."

Lance looked up from where he was folding a blanket with Shiro. "Hey, is checkers your favorite game?"

"One of my favorites, yes," said the advisor.

Lance dropped his blanket, causing Shiro to sigh, bounded over to Coran, and held up a hand. Coran high-fived him without hesitation.

Matt, who had been watching, raised an eyebrow and turned to look pointedly at Keith.

"Scientific query," he said, nudging Pidge. "How come Coran knows how to high-five people, and Keith doesn't?"

The red paladin stared at him for a moment. "I do know how. I just don't see the point."

Matt nodded sagely and wrote something on his datapad.

Keith moved warily closer. "Wait. Are you actually . . . taking notes?"

Matt stuffed the datapad between the cushions. "Uh, what? Notes?"

"You know, dude," said Lance, "I said you were a better actor than I am, but you can't really play dumb."

Allura, the mice once more clustered on her shoulders, said, "So! What is the next part of your bonding exercise? What do Earthlings do after pillow-fights?"

Lance froze, obviously thinking fast. "Uhh . . . my siblings and I used to watch movies and stuff. Sometimes we worked on puzzles or just played board games."

Coran held out the checker box. "I challenge you to a round of checkers! You'll never beat Coran the Checker Champion!"

Keith leaned closer to Pidge. "Do you find it odd that the Alteans have the same name for checkers that we do?"

Pidge leaned back, passing the mostly-fixed game to Hunk. "Actually, I have a theory about that. The word 'checkers' describes what the board looks like; it's not just a random name. You've probably noticed that whatever translative abilities that were given to us by that first scan in this castle – at least, I assume it was that first scan, I mean, it could have been Blue, I don't know – anyway, we have the same names for a good many things. It's usually proper names that are more of a problem, and since the word 'checkered' is technically an adjective . . . Hey! I just thought of a possible logarithm to work out the anomalies between Altean and English!"

Completely forgetting what she had been saying – somewhat to Keith's relief, it might be added – she fell to typing rapidly, muttering to herself all the while.

Coran and Lance were playing checkers, each glaring intently at the other as they made moves. Keith paused, trying to figure out how they could move, and even jump each others' pieces without looking at the board, then gave up. Instead, he went to help Shiro stack up the remaining pillows on the empty couch.

Allura had gone to her room, but now returned with a deck of cards. "Does anyone wish to play memory?" she asked.

Matt sprang from the couch. "I would be honored to play, Princess."

She smiled. "Pidge, do you want to join us?"

The green paladin never even looked up, still talking to herself. "Maybe now I can figure out what Coran meant by a raxelsploid. I'll just cross-reference this . . ."

Matt and Allura glanced at her, then set to work setting up the cards without further delay. Keith wandered over to watch Hunk test the game again – true to form, he'd gotten it in working order and was now engaged in fighting some sort of dragon creature.

Shiro leaned against the wall, watching everyone and feeling more relaxed than he had in a good while. His eyes felt heavy, and he thought that perhaps he'd be tired enough to get some real sleep tonight. Just as he was considering heading to his room, a wild cheer from Coran brought him jolting upright.

The advisor was engaged in some sort of victory dance that involved a lot of leaping and shouting, while Lance sat across from him with folded arms, trying very hard to look miffed.

Finally he broke into a grin. "Great move, Coran. I didn't see that coming."

"Thank you, Number Three! You're a formidable opponent, I must say!"

Coran stopped bouncing around just in time to realize that everyone in the room was staring at him, various expressions of amusement and surprise on their faces. He swallowed. "Um – so! Lance, I don't believe you ever answered Allura's question about what was next. . ."

"Yes, I did. I said we played games."

"Ah, yes. What else do you do?"

Shiro stepped forward. "Actually, I think I'm going to head to bed."

"No, you're not," said Pidge, shutting down her laptop. "You get first choice, though – couch or floor?"

He blinked. "What?"

Hunk got up and stretched, unplugging the game. "Do you want the couch, or a pile of blankets to sleep on? Sleepover, man."

"Oh. Um, actually – I hadn't really. . ."

Lance grabbed his arm. "Aw, come on, Shiro! It's been so much fun hanging out with everybody!"

"Well . . ."

"Yeah," said Keith unexpectedly. "Besides, if you go to your own room, you'll just be wandering the castle in a few hours anyway."

"I do not –" began Shiro.

Matt, who had lost the memory game very quickly - Pidge suspected it was because he kept staring at Allura's blue eyes - elbowed him. "Yes, you do."

"Not every night."

"That's true," said Pidge, holding up a finger. "For the sake of accuracy, I will admit that you only walk around nine nights out of ten."

Shiro felt overwhelmed. "I thought –"

"That we didn't notice?" said Hunk.

" . . . Yes."

"Well, we do notice," said Lance, folding his arms. "I mean, how can we not, with you checking on us?"

"I never meant to wake you," was all Shiro could say.

"You don't," said Keith. "Only once or twice."

Pidge adjusted her glasses, looking very smug indeed. "I figured out that the panels that open our doors register the time at which they were last opened. So, it's been standard procedure lately to check our panels in the morning and compare the results. Generally, you check on us around two in the morning, Earth time."

Shiro just stood there, staring at them. Lance patted his shoulder. "We appreciate it, we really do," he said. "I mean, it's not like anything really could happen to us while we're in the castle – apart from that crystal, I mean. . . yeah, anyway."

"Our dad used to do that all the time," said Pidge.

Matt nodded. "When we find him, I'm so telling him that you were our surrogate dad."

Shiro recovered enough to glare at him, but Matt kept right on talking. "I'll tell him that you were our dad while he was gone."

"I'm not – I wasn't –"

"Hey!" shouted Lance. "Yeah, totally! Shiro's our Space Dad!"

Shiro slid down the wall to a sitting position. "Lance . . ."

"Awww!" Lance flung his arms around Shiro, and Pidge followed his example. Coran sniffed loudly, wiping at his eyes, and Allura smiled brightly. Shiro glanced up, once Pidge and Lance released him, to see Hunk beaming, and Keith and Matt grinning at him.

"What, you too?" he muttered, trying very hard to feel displeased. It didn't work, not by a long shot. "Well, in that case, _Space Kids_ , it's time for bed."

"Yes, Dad!" chirped Matt, reaching out a hand to haul Shiro to his feet.

The black paladin hauled him closer and hissed, "That better not become a habit, Matt."

"Yes, Dad."

"I mean it!"

"Yes, D –"

Matt bolted, Shiro close on his heels. Desperate to escape, the lanky teen attempted to leap over the lounge, but didn't quite make it. He fell flat, and Shiro calmly held him down while Pidge tickled her brother mercilessly.

When his shrieks of laughter finally became desperate, Shiro released him and selected a blanket from the pile as though nothing unusual had happened, leaving Matt gasping and muttering threats of dire retribution.

Coran and Lance spent a few moments arguing over who got the orange blanket, until Coran said, "But you're the blue paladin! You should like _blue!_ "

"I do! I love it! But Pidge wrapped all her computer pieces in it, and . . ."

Coran snatched the blue blanket and dumped the loose wires everywhere, then shoved it at Lance. "There!" he said, looking a little maniacal. 'Take it! Take it!"

Hunk leaned over and whispered to Shiro, "I'm not so sure giving him cocoa was a good idea? He's been acting a little strange. More so than usual, I mean."

Shiro grinned and flopped down, stomach first, on the couch. The others claimed their blankets: Hunk, Pidge and Keith took yellow, green and red, of course, and Allura took pink. Matt paused for a long moment, sifting through the remaining colors, and finally decided on a brown blanket with green plaid stripes.

Pidge, already cocooned on the floor, gave him a sleepy thumbs-up.

Allura dimmed the lights and said, "Good night, paladins! I'll be sleeping on the bridge, just in case something does come up."

"Right!" answered Coran. "And I'll be in the engine room in case of a wormhole jump. Sleep well, all of you!"

Once they left, it was silent for a few moments until Lance decided to nudge Hunk in the ribs with his foot. Hunk yelped.

"Quiet," mumbled Shiro, already half-asleep.

A pause.

Then Pidge whispered, "Hey, Matt, how 'bout we work on consolidating our data tomorrow? We've probably got a lot of doubles by now."

"Yeah, great idea. We could also –"

Keith poked his head. "Shh."

Matt stuck his tongue out, and Pidge let out a surprised giggle.

Shiro sighed heavily and turned over to face the others. "Okay, everyone, that's enouh. Go to sleep, and NO MORE TALKING."

As he wrapped up again, he could have sworn that several people said, "Yes, Dad," but he decided to say nothing about it.

For the time being, at any rate. Tomorrow he'd be awake enough, but for now he was just too . . . tired.

Shiro slept.

The other paladins and Matt waited until his heavy breathing convinced them that he was well and truly asleep, and then they celebrated, quietly. Pidge grinned at Matt. Lance and Hunk shook hands. Hunk grinned at Keith. Lance and Pidge smirked victoriously.

And Keith high-fived Matt.


End file.
